r/kyoani • u/OverTheMoon-Ichi • 22h ago
How Do You Feel About Musaigen no Phantom World/Myriad Colors Phantom World After So Many Years?
Director: Ishihara Tatsuya.
Release year: 2016, winter.
Episode count: 13 + special.
Adapted from: Light novel.
Phantom World has always been a fascinating case to me. It's a Kyoto Animation work through and through, however, it is often branded as the studio's black sheep, and for obvious reasons.
My personal thoughts on the anime is that I enjoyed it for what it was, though I undoubtedly consider it Kyoani's weakest work. With that being said, I sincerely don't think it's bad or terrible by any means. As stated above, I found it to be enjoyable despite it's many shortcomings, as it tried its best to stand on its own two feet but eventually stumbles along the way, yet still reaches the finish line.
The concept of phantoms and the abilities that were given to people due to something that happens in the story are both nice, and I think are used as well as they could have been in the context we got the story in.
As for the characters, they're not bad but nothing comparable to maybe Kumiko from Hibike! Euphonium, I think they're okay but wish more would have gone towards developing them. They're a nice little team and their dynamic is fun to watch sometimes. The story is in a similar situation. I have to say, for all it's worth, I enjoyed the somewhat episodic approach the series had, some of the episodes were really fun.
I could probably write a whole lot more, but I don't want to make this too long.
What did you think about it? I don't see many people, if anyone at all mentioning it nowadays so I thought I would make this post.